The legislation, which passed 327-98, would require the Government Accountability Office, the investigative arm of Congress, to carry out comprehensive audits of the Fed’s Board of Governors and 12 regional banks.

Congress has rightly insulated the Fed from short-term political pressures…This bill increases the likelihood that the Fed will make decisions based on political rather than economic considerations, and that is not a recipe for sound monetary policy.

Rep. Steny Hoyer of Maryland, the House’s second-ranked Democrat, said in opposing the legislation.

The Fed is subject to annual financial statement audits and the Dodd-Frank Act passed after the 2008 Wall Street meltdown does have provisions, backed by Paul, for auditing certain Fed activities. But the new legislation goes further in requiring inspections of the bank’s monetary policy decision-making, including its agreements with foreign central banks and Foreign Open Market Committee directives.